Promise
by Charpie
Summary: Even if all odds were against her, she would keep her promise to the Family. Written for LJ's khr undercover. Round 3 theme: Alternate Universe.


Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Akira Amano…

Author's Notes: This was written for the LJ community khr_undercover's round 3 where the theme challenge was AU. I decided to take a chance and write about a character that I've never written before.

In general, I feel that Chrome doesn't get the spotlight that she deserves and that Amano-sensei is really holding her back! I think she has so much potential to be an amazing female character, which is why I chose to write about her.

Warning: This fic takes place in an alternate world, hence why it's so different from the current arc. I also wrote this before Bluebell's true powers were revealed.

Comments and Reviews are most welcomed and appreciated.

She had wanted to share one last drink with all of them.

oOoOo

_The last time they had was almost a year ago, before this whole mess started. _

_It had been a private gathering among the Guardians, close friends, and their Boss. He had called them from all around the world; she herself had been wandering across Europe, and invited them to his newly built base outside Namimori. _

_He wanted to know how they were all doing, where they were headed and what they were all up to. But she could mostly tell he just wanted to be with his Family. _

_It certainly was interesting. The formal chitchat disappeared as soon as the alcohol made its appearance. _

_Sasagawa was the first to pass all barriers and poured "EXTREME" drinks for everyone, regardless if they wanted one or not. _

_Then everything escalated from there on out. _

_From her little corner of the room she could see everything: Sasagawa was at the bar challenging Gokudera-san to a shot match. Yamamoto was shamelessly flirting with Hibari in the corner. The girls were excitingly chitchatting over cake and teasing Kyoko-san about her recent engagement to the Boss. Lambo was talking with Fuuta, the Boss, and Giannini. She really wasn't sure where Reborn-san was, but she had no doubt that he would make a flashy entrance sooner or later. Mukuro-sama already had. As soon as the drinks started flowing, he insisted on making an appearance, stirring Hibari and surprising the Boss. _

_Everything aside, Chrome had been enjoying her quiet spot at the corner bar, sipping a glass of her favorite red wine while observing the gathering. _

_She had shared some time with the girls but had quietly slipped away when things started to get loud between the Sun and Storm. _

_But she wasn't alone for long though. "Boss," she greeted, when she realized he was at her shoulder._

"_Mind if I sit with you?" He asked. Chrome shook her head and he sat down beside her. _

"_Mataku. There they go again," He said, looking over at Gokudera-san and his future brother-in-law's direction with a bemused and slightly exasperated expression when the drinking started again. "Will they ever stop?" he then added, attending to his own drink. _

"_Not until hell freezes over," Chrome offered. _

_Boss nearly choked on his drink._ _He coughed and then laughed. _

_Chrome watched him carefully: Despite all the commotion that had been going on, he looked completely content… More so than she had ever seen him in the past._

_There was this air about him that still made him the same Sawada Tsunayoshi, but with more confidence and maturity. No doubt he had grown into the position of the next Vongola heir quite nicely. _

_Although he was more relaxed, he was still as innocent as ever, as could be seen by how badly he blushed when she greeted him with a kiss on the cheek upon her arrival._

_Chrome couldn't help but smile at the thought. He was still fairly easy to tease._

_Boss turned back towards her. "How have you been?" He asked her. "It's almost been two years since we've last heard from you. I was surprised when we were finally able to get a hold of you for tonight." _

"_I've been well," She answered. "Busy as you can guess." She figured that her Boss could fill in most of the gaps. _

_He seemed to have understood. "And those two?" _

"_Ken and Chikusa are fine as well. They're in Italy right now." The Boss had actually invited all three of them to the party but the other two had refused, deciding to stick close to home. Yet knowing that he was always thinking of them even if they weren't officially Vongola Family made her happy. _

"_I hope you're able to stick around for a while." He then suddenly paused and looked around him, taking in everything happening around them. Everyone was enjoying themselves and having a great time. _

_A bright genuine smile formed on his face and he turned back to Chrome. "It's good to have everyone together." _

_Chrome smiled into her glass and quietly agreed with a nod. She understood exactly what he meant: She loved them all as well. _

oOoOo

Those had been happier times.

"Only you? That's so stupid!"

Chrome snapped out of her reverie and looked up to see one of the Six Funeral Wreaths hovering above her: a young girl with long sky blue tresses and in nothing else but a loose oversized coat flowing in the wind.

Blue Rain flames whipped back and forth under her feet…

Her name was Bluebell, if she was not mistaken, and she was staring down at her and looking almost offended to have Chrome standing before her.

"I was hoping for one of those cuter guys, too." She pouted, puffing out her cheeks. She was acting like a complete child but Chrome knew that she couldn't afford to underestimate her, _especially_ if she was one of the Funeral Wreaths.

None of them should be underestimated at all.

oOoOo

_Sasagawa was the first to go. _

_It had happened during an investigative mission in Italy. _

_There were some suspicions of someone plotting against Vongola and the Boss had sent him along with a few others to look into it and put out any fires. _

_But all that had been waiting for them was a trap and a message that war was on its way. _

_She was present in the communication room when the news came. _

_Immediately following a distress signal, the Varia sent themselves out to assist. However, they arrived too late: The building that Sasagawa's squad was sent to check out had completely collapsed, the Sun Guardian presumably beneath all the rubble. It was only after hours of searching that they finally found his body. _

_Survivors confirmed that it had all been a trap: Almost as soon as they stepped foot inside the compound, they were attacked by a powerful Mist user by the name of Torikabuto. By listening to their squad leader over the communication devices, they were able to deduce that he had had a difficult time fighting the enemy and had been severely injured. The only option he had decided on was to end the fight in an extreme way— by taking a Maximum Canon to the building and collapsing it on top of the enemy and himself. _

_When her Boss heard all this, he was silent and covered his eyes from sight with one of his hands. But she could see his whole body was shaking with grief. _

"_We found something really strange when we checked out the body of the enemy," Squalo explained to them over the video feed. "There was some sort of pendant there reflecting the color of his flame. It's completely broken, but we have a feeling that it's what led to Sasagawa's defeat. It's similar to the plans that we discovered several months ago." _

_This information had surprised Chrome. She herself had seen the plans when they were sent to her, several months after the party. It was an interesting looking device that used the flames to manipulate the body's DNA. They had been supposedly designed by the Arcobaleno, Verde. _

_How was this family able to produce them when even Vongola had trouble doing so? _

"_There's one more thing," Squalo added, before he cut off the communications link. "Sasagawa's ring is gone." _

_None of them moved after the communication had ended; they waited for their Boss to say something. _

_He was still for a moment… When he lowered his hand, his eyes were red. _

_He then made a gesture to for them to leave the room and took a step forward. But his legs gave out and he crumpled to the floor. Yamamoto and Gokudera had managed to catch him however he still sank to the floor with a heavy sob, finally breaking down. _

_Very few of them could act solemnly after hearing the news: Yamamoto's eyes were filled with grief while he comforted the Boss, and Gokudera-san swore a mile a minute. _

_Hibari had said nothing but he had his eyes shut and his head lowered. _

_Chrome had allowed Lambo to cry into her shoulder while she herself wasn't quite sure on how to react. She had respected him as a guardian and had liked him as a friend. _

_It was really too hard to believe that he was gone._

_However they would all realize later that that wasn't the end of it. _

oOoOo

"Stupid Zakuro! Leaving me behind here so he could go off and chase people! I wanted to be the first to find that Vongola brat! But if I hurry up here, I might be able -"

"I won't let you leave this place," Chrome interjected, her voice amplified by her resolution and ringing across the empty lot.

Bluebell sneered. "BITCH! Don't interrupt me!"

"I honestly could care less." Chrome replied, taking her trident and hitting the ground twice with its blunt end. The ground below them rumbled and giant pillars of lava erupted from the cracks that had formed in it. If she had stood still, Bluebell would have been engulfed by one of them but she had quickly dodged and swerved around.

Chrome rapped her trident on the ground again and the pillars shot up and flowed toward the sky, chasing after Bluebell to trap her in a ball of molten lava.

_Please work_, Chrome thought as she willed the ball to shrink, hoping to suffocate and burn the Funeral Wreath inside…

But something was wrong, she suddenly realized: It hadn't been shrinking as fast as she wanted it too.

A blue glow emitted from the lava prison and slowly broke open the growing cracks. Then all of a sudden, it exploded; revealing a very pissed Bluebell. The Rain flames pulsed from her arms and lengthened into long flaming whips.

"All that's going to do is piss me off more!" Bluebell shrieked, extending her reach and shot herself down toward her with a giant pulse of flame. Chrome braced herself for the attack, dodging the whips of flame and blocking off a powerful kick with her weapon.

Bluebell's size worked well for her. She moved through the air easily and her speed made up for her lack of natural power; Chrome knew she had to think fast to defeat her.

As soon as the two of them broke apart, she swung around and pushed Bluebell away with the blunt end of her trident; twirled it in the air and ended with a hard swing. The ground around her began to break apart again and up grew long vines and thick grasses, separating the two of them. She heard Bluebell growl with anger and saw her fling her arms around, touching as much as of the illusion as she could with her flame whips and slowing its progress. Despite the delay in the formation of her illusion, it still gave her enough time to move away from Bluebell's path…

… But not without leaving a little something…

"I told you that GODDAMN trick won't work on me!" Bluebell screamed, flying forward and aiming for the startled illusion copy of Chrome with another attack.

Chrome watched as her kick landed flawlessly on a fake Mist Guardian's chest and saw the confusion and pain in her face when she realized that what she had attacked wasn't human. Instead of Chrome's body, she had felt the cold kiss of metal against her foot and a sharp pain of hitting something much harder than she had anticipated.

Lamp post poles had a tendency to do that.

Chrome took the opportunity that the Funeral Wreath was in pain as her chance and went for the attack once more, changing the illusions around her into a thick eerie mist.

"I'm not sure what you're aiming for," her voice echoed as she approached, trident ready. Bluebell had only barely turned around when the flat of the trident's side slammed against her and sent her flying into a wall of one of the buildings.

Then rest of the mist finally dissolved into the air, revealing the Mist Guardian. "Because I'm right here." She continued as she calmly walked toward her.

Despite how hard she landed against the wall, Chrome was disheartened to see that Bluebell had still managed to pick herself up and take a couple of ragged breaths. However, she was relieved to see that she had done some damage to the girl.

Three large scratches, left by her last attack, were laid across her abdomen… Then she saw that Bluebell had also noticed; she touched the wound delicately and suddenly winced from the pain. When the blue haired girl looked directly at Chrome, she saw rage contorting her face.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU STUPID BITCH!" She shrieked before she ripped open her long jacket, exposing the left side of her chest and a glowing pendant implanted within.

Chrome couldn't believe what she was seeing: Bluebell had the exact same pendant that Chrome had seen in the plans that had been sent to her so many months ago…

oOoOo

_After Ryohei's death, everything seemed to spiral downwards. _

_In the days that followed his funeral, there was a massive concentration on gathering whatever information they could about the mysterious Millefiore. The Vongola pulled out all stops, using every available resource that they could include and what help any of their ally families could offer them. _

_However, their efforts weren't entirely fruitful: For every single thing that they found out, there were at least a hundred things that hadn't been discovered or couldn't be explained. _

_But their biggest, most important discovery came at a price that none of them were ever willing to pay again._

_Chrome was present when a badly injured Yamamoto explained to the Boss what happened: He had seen everything that had transpired during a joint mission with Reborn; they had been unexpectedly ambushed in the middle of it by the enemy, comprising of one Funeral Wreath and a handful of strong soldiers. _

_Almost immediately after they were trapped, the soldiers went after Yamamoto, leaving Reborn to defend himself against their leader, a tall man with long sea green hair. His intent was to defeat him quickly but he didn't even get the chance to attack first._

_Yamamoto explained that the man suddenly brought out a strange device that let out a stream of glowing particles. _

_As soon as some of them touched him, Reborn was suddenly weakened and fell to his knees... He was so powerless— so much so that the Funeral Wreath had actually been able to contain him using vines grown by his Cloud flame. He had called himself Kikyou and announced that he had come to collect from both of them._

_Yamamoto had overheard Reborn immediately putting the pieces together; the Arcobaleno must have realized Millefiore's goal then while he was still being wrapped and bound by the vines. Reborn had demanded the Funeral Wreath to confirm the Millefiore's plan: to complete the Tre-Ni-Sette._

_The Funeral Wreath had only laughed in reply but apparently it was more than enough of a confirmation for Reborn._

_By then, Yamamoto said, he had managed to take down several of the men who had gone after him save for the one named Genkishi. He tried to reach Reborn to free him but the latter had proved to be a challenge for him and it was only after a long, rough battle that Yamamoto had been able to defeat him… but not without suffering a damaging blow to his right eye and some serious injuries. _

_He immediately went to help his mentor as soon as he defeated Genkishi but Reborn had other plans. _

"_That kid," Yamamoto had said with a remorseful smile. "— somehow managed to get free... Even though he was bound, injured, and feeling the effects of that device very badly. He told me to get away and then he took on that guy by himself… But…" He closed his eyes in painful regret. "I'm really sorry Tsuna…" _

_He then handed the Boss Reborn-san's fedora, tattered, battered and torn in several places from its owner's final battle. _

_Upon receiving it, the Boss' face had become white as a sheet but he again said nothing. Chrome, together with the others, were stunned and speechless. It just didn't seem possible that the great, mighty Reborn could have fallen just like that. _

_oOo_

_The loss of Reborn had a heavy effect on the entire Family and in the weeks to come, Chrome watched along with the others as the rest of the Arcobaleno, as well as many other mafia families, including Vongola's closest allies, all fell to the Millefiore… _

_All hell had broken loose as the Millefiore took down families left and right, turning what was a war into an all out massacre of the mafia. _

_There was no one who had been left unaffected: The main branch of Vongola had been doing its best to keep afloat until it was bombarded by a large army of Millefiore A-rank soldiers. The last that they had heard from the main branch was that the Kyuudaime and the head of CEDEF had been declared M.I.A., despite the Varia's efforts in searching and defending what was left of their Family's great power. _

_oOo_

_Back in Japan, everyone was worse for the wear. _

_Yamamoto was still recovering both mentally and physically. _

_The kids and Giannini were doing their best to cope with everything. _

_Bianchi did her best to stay strong for Haru and Kyoko but she was clearly suffering from the lost of her beloved. _

_The only ones who still seemed to be holding it together best were Hibari, Gokudera, and herself… Although Gokudera spent much of his time running back and forth between the Boss and his sister, and all of that was slowly beginning to wear away at the Right Hand Man. _

_There was no question about the state of mind that their Boss was in: While on the outside, he seemed relatively calm, everyone could tell that he was already breaking on the inside. If the shock of losing Ryohei hadn't been bad enough for him, losing Reborn on top of everything else signaled his breaking point._

_It was taking its toll on him and Chrome knew this first hand._

_oOo_

_After a long day of making plans in their hidden base, she had passed by one of the common areas on her way to her room and seen the mess of brown hair sticking up from a chair._

_She had poked her head in, deciding that it would be polite to bid the Boss a good night before retiring, and saw the papers scattered all over the table and the Boss fast asleep: He was settled in his armchair, leaning back against the backrest and, she guessed, probably passed out from pure exhaustion. He was snoring softly, his mouth slightly ajar, one hand resting on his stomach and the other on the armrest. _

_She quietly entered the room: It would have been peaceful picture if not for the dried tear tracks that ran down along his cheeks. _

_Chrome's heart went out to him when she gently kissed him on the forehead, wishing that he was awake just so she could see him blush in embarrassment from it, just like old times. _

_Yet she knew nothing was ever going to be the same again. _

oOoOo

Chrome had never seen anything like it before.

The pendant in Bluebell's chest exploded with Rain flames after she stuck the flames from her Mare ring inside. The flames then wrapped around her body and spread till every part of her had been covered.

The coat that she had been wearing shredded at the same time as her transformation, revealing her naked body covered in something resembling fish scales, all the way up to her chest, ending at the strange brilliant blue- glowing pendant embedded in her chest. Her skin extended to form fins with sharp edges along her arms and legs and along her bare back, a sharp dorsal fin poked out from under her long hair.

Bluebell took a deep breath and stood before Chrome, smiling as her Rain flames whipped back and forth from her entire body. "This beautiful _Sirena_ will teach you not to scratch me," She declared arrogantly.

"All I see is a Monster," Chrome retorted, although beads of sweat were beginning to make their way down her face. Bluebell's transformation obviously wasn't good and it troubled her greatly. It didn't help that she had just also insulted Bluebell in the worst possible way.

"BITCH!" Chrome barely had time to blink when the Funeral Wreath suddenly shot forward and attacked, striking so fast that she was barely able to block her. Her opponent was all over the place and was making her move clumsily…

Finally Bluebell caught her back wide open and struck. It felt like several knives ripping through her skin all at once. Chrome cried out in pain but managed to turn herself around, barely dodging another attack— but not the one that had followed it: a double kick to her stomach sent her flying, making her landing hard enough to have the wind knocked out of her.

She struggled to get up after a few moments, coughing up blood, but somehow managed using her trident for leverage. She realized that she was breathing pretty hard— no doubt from a couple of broken ribs.

"If you surrender your ring now and tell me where Vongola is, I might end this quickly," Bluebell taunted, flying high above Chrome. "Either way, you'll end up dead."

She was in serious pain, but Chrome still had just enough strength left in her to pull off one more powerful illusion.

She rapped the end of her weapon against the ground and multiple copies of herself formed around her; a desperate attempt to defeat the Funeral Wreath.

All of her copies looked toward the Funeral Wreath and yelled "Not before you do!" before they all went for the attack, going at her from all angles.

While Bluebell was distracted with figuring out which of her opponents were fake, the real Chrome took the advantage of the chaos and hid herself as a part of the scenery until some of her clone illusions were able to trick Bluebell into coming near her.

Once Bluebell was within her range, Chrome leapt up at her, thrusting the trident towards her unguarded back—

Unfortunately for her, the Funeral Wreath somehow sensed her: the petite girl suddenly swung around, grabbing hold of trident and pulled Chrome up towards her. Then, taking the spiked fin growing out of her arm, she stabbed her through one of her shoulders.

Afterwards, she took hold of Chrome by the collar and after pulling out her fin; she let her dangle in the air, taunting her. "You know what? I'll just take what rightfully belongs to Byakuran-sama right now," Bluebell said reaching for Chrome's ring hand. "You've been a real bore and I've still got your Boss to skewer."

Chrome couldn't answer back. Her body was completely paralyzed with pain and she was barely conscious. She couldn't focus on what was going on...

"**Do not let her take what is rightfully yours, My Sweet Chrome," **a silky voice called from inside her.

_Mukuro-sama! _Chrome cried out in her head_. _

He was absolutely right; she couldn't afford to let her ring be taken from her.

For the sake of preventing the Millefiore from reaching their goals or letting the sacrifices of her fallen comrades go to waste, she could not let it be taken! She had made a promise to all of them. She promised that she wouldn't lose or fall!

Chrome reached up, forcing herself to ignore the pain, and took hold of the hand holding her up. Her other one had forcibly pulled away from Bluebell's to wrap around the Funeral Wreath's throat.

"Not—" Chrome choked out, forcing her eye to open, glaring determinedly at Bluebell from under her disheveled hair, her body sweating from the exertion of forcing out her remaining strength from it.

"Dammit, you're a pain!" Bluebell screamed as she tried to pry Chrome's grip off but she held on tight and refused to let go.

"It's not yours!" Chrome continued hoarsely, curling her body inward to bring both legs up and kicked Bluebell in the stomach hard enough to release her hold on her. As soon as she fell to the ground, she darted away from the winded Bluebell. Unfortunately, it had proved to be a difficult feat because of her injuries and she couldn't get very far.

The Rain flames that licked around Bluebell's body had infiltrated through the wounds and were progressively slowing her down on top of the injuries that she had already sustained all throughout the fight.

But she couldn't let any of it stop her: She had no choice but to win.

After all, she had a promise to keep.

oOoOo

_The whole building shook, nearly knocking everyone off their feet but not preventing anyone from staring at Chrome._

_They honestly couldn't afford to stand around. The entire base was under attack. _

_One of the Funeral Wreaths, the one named Zakuro, had completely broken through, bringing a small army of strong A-rank soldiers in with him. _

_As soon as the sirens rang, Hibari ran straight into battle, ready for a fight and left the rest of them behind to escape. Luckily, there had only been a few of them left in the base as Bianchi had taken the girls with her days earlier._

"_What did you say?" The Boss asked her, staggered by what she had just told him._

_Chrome repeated herself: "I'll stay here while the rest of you escape. I can distract them while all of you make it out through the exit."_ _She was convinced it was the best option… _

_Hibari was already off fighting. _

_Yamamoto was barely in any condition to fight, much less take a Funeral Wreath head on. _

_Fuuta and Giannini were completely useless for battle. _

_Lambo was still too inexperienced to fight alone and while Gokudera was able and willing to fight, she knew that it was best if he stuck close to the Boss. _

_All this left her as the likely choice._

"_N-no. I can't let you do that! I'll go instead!"_ _Her_ _Boss had implored to her, fearful for her._

_Chrome looked back at him with an unyielding face. "You don't believe that I can win, Boss?"_

"_Please— I _don't_ want anyone else to die!" Panic, fear and sadness was dripping from each word and she understood why: It's his worst fear, to keep loosing the ones that he cared about without being able to do anything about it. _

_But his life is just as important as theirs, if not more so and it was her job to protect him and the rest of the family. All their lives were important to her and she had to do her best to help them._

_Chrome stood firm and determined before him. _

_Despite the noise all around them, her voice rang, calm and full of resolve. "I won't die nor lose, Boss. I'll come back." _

_The look on his face told her that he had faith in her but he wasn't convinced enough. But nevertheless, he let up and stood back. "Do you promise, Chrome?"_

_Chrome nodded, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Yes."_

oOoOo

Bluebell wasn't down for long. She recovered quickly from the kick and she laughed wildly at Chrome. "Is that all you've got!"

The Vongola guardian winced in pain, placing a hand on her bleeding shoulder. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep going and Chrome felt like she had no more juice left.

But she had come so far.

After separating from her Boss and their company, she had used her illusions to lure all the soldiers in different directions and trap them within the base. Then knowing that there were more, she left the building to intercept anyone who dared tried to follow. Hopefully, it had been enough for her Boss and everyone else to safely escape. And while she had no doubt that Hibari would somehow be OK, she briefly wondered then if she would be able to keep her promise to her Boss at all.

She would have to make an illusion that would completely dominate all of Bluebell's senses… Meaning she would have to use "that" technique— and she would also need his help, if it were to work. ..

"Mu-Mukuro-sama," she whispered.

"**I am here, My Sweet Chrome."**

_I need your help,_ she told him. _I want to try out "that" technique._

"**I'll only be able to lend you so much."**

_It'll have to do; I need to end this soon. I can handle the rest._

"**Of course."**

"Haven't you had enough?" Bluebell called to her.

Chrome ignored her and concentrated. She would need every last ounce of strength that she had left and then some to make it work.

As she focused her power, she thought about everyone she cared about.

Not just Ken and Chikusa and Mukuro-sama, but the others as well: She thought of the girls, the kids, and the other members of the Vongola as well as those ones who had already passed on during this war… and she thought of her Boss…

They weren't all just acquaintances or associates.

They also weren't friends either.

They were her family and she would do anything to protect them. They were all so precious to her…

"**What is your wish, Chrome?" **Mukuro-sama asked her.

The Vongola ring around her finger shined brightly as the Mist flames poured out over her body and through her weapon. She could sense Mukuro-sama's powers concentrating around her right eye and she brought her hand up to her eye patch and pulled it off to reveal Mukuro's red eye with the symbol for '_shi'_ in the middle.

Then she stood up all the way, proud and resolved to face a bewildered Bluebell.

"_I want to see all of them again!_" She declared.

Using the fourth state, the State of Shura, Chrome quickly advanced upon a startled Bluebell and unleashed a series of attacks on her, many of which Bluebell had great difficulty in dodging. But she eventually messed up and took a hard hit to her face.

Chrome took a few deep breaths as she watched Bluebell pick herself up from the last one. "What the hell is that?!" she screamed, pressing a hand against her injured cheek.

"The Sixth Paths of Reincarnation." Chrome replied calmly.

Bluebell looked outraged. "Y-you're not supposed to have that! Only Rokudo Mukuro has that ability! We haven't heard anything about this!"

Chrome hadn't known how he did it, but somehow at the mention of his name, her Mukuro-sama made himself appear through her right eye so that he was standing side by side with her.

She had never felt so empowered before…

Chrome then took a couple steps towards the Millefiore brat. "Mukuro-sama and I are connected." She then pointed her trident at the girl. "_This ends __now_!"

Bluebell concentrated flames at the bottom of her feet, allowing her to quickly fly away. She still looked incredibly pissed. "Damn straight it does! You're not the only one with secret moves!" She then spread her arms wide and engulfed them in Rain flames but what had really surprised Chrome was that the water droplets in the area where also gathering.

"Didn't you know that Rain flames have a water affinity? This pendant allows my flame to take advantage of that and turn it into attacks like these." Bluebell looked incredibly smug at Chrome's ignorance.

The Mist Guardian couldn't help but stare at the growing globes of water. She hadn't been expecting that.

"**We can't keep this up much longer. Take advantage of this opportunity and use it against her."**

Chrome nodded and changed the paths, switching to State of Hell: This would be their final attack and she would use it to the best of her advantage.

When she finished gathering enough water for her attack, Bluebell pounced, swing her arms forward, bringing forth a large wave of water. "SIRENA DE MAREOTO-ONDA!"

oOo

Bluebell watched with excitement as her Sirena de Mareoto-onda crashed down upon the Mist Guardian, who ran away at the first sign that hinted it was coming. She then made the water switch directions to follow her but it never reached her.

Instead of drowning in a great flood of water, the Guardian swung her trident around, making the torrent travel around her and back toward Bluebell, turning it into a giant water dragon.

Bluebell didn't move.

"THIS ISN'T REAL!" She shouted as the dragon opened its mouth to swallow her.

But it was very real.

She felt the coolness of the water wrapping around her, suffocating her. She tried to swim away but at that very moment, something wrapped around her legs. When she looked down, she saw the tentacle of a giant octopus wrapping itself around her and at the same time, another two tentacles went for her arm and neck, preventing her from moving away and pulling her down deeper into the water dragon's stomach.

She struggled violently and saw Chrome, who was standing before her, dry as a desert, past the wall of water. A smug smile grew on her face when she struck the ground with the blunt end of the staff: The ground below the water broke apart and out emerged a large marlin. It swam around and away her a few times until it was in good enough distance to turn and shoot itself towards her.

Bluebell struggled. She couldn't understand how this was happening.

It was supposed to be an illusion, so how come it was so real? Was it an ability that they didn't know about, that Byakuran-sama didn't know?

When it reached her, the marlin stuck its long, sharp bill through her pendant and the impact shattered. All the while, Bluebell could only wonder as she coughed up blood: how was it possible?!

But her answer came almost immediately.

As soon as her pendant was shattered, the water disappeared along with the octopus… Even the Mist Guardian had vanished. The marlin also started to fade but she saw that it was slowly being replaced with the trident.

It was sticking through her chest and the Vongola was on the other end of it, gripping the pole with both hands and panting.

As the last of her life left her, Bluebell could only manage one last word: "How!?"

Chrome looked directly at her, her right eye a glowing blood red with the character for '_ichi'_ in the center, the final thing Bluebell would ever see when the last of her life finally left her.

"Illusions."

oOo

As soon as the fallen Funeral Wreath fell limp to the ground, Chrome knew that she was dead. It looked like the mysterious pendant had been planted directly over her heart. So when Chrome had stuck her trident through the blue target; the heart had also been pierced as well.

She pulled the bloody trident out, glad that it was over.

"**You did well, My Chrome, but I'm afraid I'm at my limit."**

Chrome nodded with a small grateful smile. _Thank you, Muku-_

Yet she couldn't finish, breaking out into a painful fit of heavy coughs. Her immediate link with Mukuro suddenly broke, returning her missing eye. The adrenaline also wore away, bringing back the pain from all her injuries back in one big wave.

She fell to the ground, her energy depleted and body shaking from the sudden shock of pain and fatigue. It had been all too much for her already fragile body to take and she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness.

"I'm sorry, Boss," she somehow whispered before she completely blacked out. She wouldn't be able to keep her promise after all.

oOoOoOoOo

It had been the sensation of something cool on top of her forehead that had caused her to wake up.

She stirred for a second then opened her eye slowly; the other had been covered by a replacement gauze eye patch… and she was laying in something soft and warm. Was it a bed? Her shoulder felt like it was covered in bandages as well as her back and chest.

Was she in a hospital?

"Thank goodness, you're awake." Chrome startled at the sudden voice to her right and she turned her head. There was her Boss, standing over her, wearing a worried look on his face.

"How?" Chrome hoarsely asked him.

Her Boss had shrugged, resting his hand on her bed rail. "I heard you. At least, I think I did, so we went back. Good thing too." He left it at that and then moved onto something else. "We're at Dino's secret base. Romario patched you up. He said you'll need a few weeks rest but that you should make a full recovery."

Chrome didn't respond but instead examined the look on his face: His expression was completely different from the one that she had last seen him with. It was almost like he was glowing…

She reached up and placed her hand over his, squeezing it a little. "I kept my promise," she told him, smiling.

Her Boss gently took her hand with both of his and squeezed it back gently. A genuine smile, just like the one she had witnessed at the party in what felt like so many months ago, formed on his face just for her and he nodded. "Yeah, you did."

He squeezed her hand gently once more and placed it back down. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

She thought for a moment until something came to mind. She laughed softly, through her nose.

"A drink with everyone would be nice."


End file.
